Greek-o-rama Extravaganza

Cooked Greek for this week’s supper club. I swear, next time it’s my turn I am making a meatloaf and some frozen peas. This dinner was expensive and fucking time consuming, though it was apparently also delicious. For a few of you who were there and wanted the recipes (all ganked from epicurious.com) here they are:

Grilled Haloumi Cheese and Lemon

Turned on to this grill-able Haloumi cheese by a few of my Twitter friends, this appetizer was a huge hit. Had to search a bit, but finally found the cheese at Jay’s on Grand. Was supposed to grill it outside, but it seemed to work well on a ridged pan over my gas stove.

Orzo, Feta, and Tomato Salad with Marjoram Vinaigrette

It’s two days later and I am still trying to finish off this orzo dish. It makes a ton, is all I am saying. It’s quite delicious cold, and seems like it would be a great summertime or picnic lunch. The Dijon mustard and marjoram really added to the vinagrette, and it was super, super tasty.

Lamb Souvlaki with Yogurt-Garlic Sauce

I had never cooked lamb before, and don’t know if I will again. I thought this recipe was tasty, but with the amount of lamb they call for, the souvlaki seemed very light on meat, to me. At $13/lb I understand why they don’t call for more, but I wonder if some beef might not have been just as tasty. The yogurt garlic sauce, on the other hand, was ten kinds of the bomb. I really don’t like yogurt, but the combo of the Greek-style yogurt, pureed cucumber and the lemon juice made for a really tasty, tart  dressing. Loved it.

Baklava

And last but certainly not to be overlooked was the baklava. I see why I only make this every few years, because holy shit, that’s a lot of work. Boiling the syrup myself really let me taste the individual flavors though, and the taste of the orange seemed to come through much more strongly than it would have with a pre-made baklava. But seriously, unless you have a few hours to devote (and a pretty large party, this makes a shitton of baklava) I would almost recommend buying it instead. I would also recommend asking your friends if any of them are allergic to almonds, prior to serving this dish. (Not saying anything occurred, just… sorry about your tongue.) Also, I totally chopped the nuts in the food processor. Totally.

Anyway, I would recommend all of these dishes, they were super tasty, if time consuming. I am still the laziest cook in the universe though. Next time = meatloaf.